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Bukhari's new diktat to Muslims: Vote for AAP in Delhi. Party rejects support

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A file photo of Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Imam of the Jama Masjid.

A file photo of Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Imam of the Jama Masjid.

New Delhi: With less than a day left for Delhi to go to polls, Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari of Jama Masjid has asked Muslims to support the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly elections.

He appealed Muslims to vote for AAP candidates and help in forming a secular government in Delhi.

AAP however, has rejected Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari’s support for the Delhi polls. AAP says, “We don’t agree with his ideology, people of all religions support us.”

The imam catapults himself in the news during each election by offering support to parties which are either in power or who have popular support.

In 2004, Bukhari had launched a surrogate campaign for the then BJP leader and PM A B Vajpayee. During the Lok Sabha polls, AICC president Sonia Gandhi met Bukhari, triggering a political row. The religious leader then announced his support to the Congress, the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar.

Dr. Zakir Naik wins King Faisal International Prize

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Riyadh: Dr Zakir A. Naik, president of the Islamic Research Foundation of India has won the 2015 King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for Service to Islam.

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and KFIP Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Othaimeen announced the names of the winners at a glittering function held at Al-Khozama Center on Tuesday.

Two internationally acclaimed scholars of chemistry, Professor Omar Mwannes Yaghi from the United States and Professor Michael Gratzel from Switzerland, were declared co-winners of the prize in science category (chemistry).

The award for Islamic studies went to Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Kaki, a consultant at Madinah Development Authority.

Prof. Jeffrey Ivan Gordon from the US was declared winner of the prize in medicine. Each prize consists of a handwritten Arabic certificate summarizing the laureate’s work, a commemorative 24-carat, 200-gram gold medal and a cash award of SR750,000.

The co-winners in any category share the monetary grant.

According to the citation read out by Al-Othaimeen, Naik, a non-Arabic Indian Islamic scholar, has become a renowned authority on comparative religion. “He has founded a TV channel called Peace TV, which remains the only channel in the world specialized in comparative religion with huge audience profile,” said the citation.

Referring to the prize given in science category, the KFIP secretary-general said that Gratzel, a professor at Swiss Federal Institute, is recognized for “his foundational and practical discoveries in the development of photo-electrochemical systems for solar energy conversion.”

The co-winner in science category, Yaghi, has made seminal contributions in the field of metal organic frameworks.

He applauded the achievements of Kaki in Islamic studies for “his distinguished research on cultural heritage of Madinah.”

The award for Arabic language and literature was withheld as none of the nominees met the criteria laid down by the selection committee this year.

(Agencies)

VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi stokes fresh controversy with communal rants

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Badaun: VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi has stoked fresh controversy by making inflammatory remarks on the issue of ‘love jihad’ and defending her statement that Hindu women should have four children.

“They are trapping our daughters through ‘love jihad’. These people who give birth to 35-40…. Are spreading love jihad….. They are trying to make Hindustan into Darul Islam.

“When I made the remarks, it was as if the country was hit by a quake. The media said you have sparked an uproar with your remarks on four children. I said I have only advocated four children for Hindus not 40…. And it is important because the country needs it,” the saffron clad leader said at a function organised here by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which “felicitated” Hindus who have more than four children.

Prachi had contested the 2012 Assembly elections on BJP ticket from Purkazi constituency in UP. She was among persons accused of inciting riots through their provocative speeches in Muzaffarnagar in 2013 and was later granted bail.

The latest hate speech came despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warning to party leaders to restrain from making controversial comments which can overshadow his government’s agenda of development and economic reforms.

The BJP was quick to distance itself from Prachi’s remarks, saying the party does not agree with such views and is not interested in discussing any such issue.

“The BJP does not agree with any such comment. We do not think that the comments are correct. BJP does not want to discuss any issue other than good governance and even the people are not ready to accept any such discussion.

“Under such circumstances, there is no significance of such remarks,” said chief of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit Laxmikant Bajpai.

He asserted that the leader was not speaking at a party platform.

Prachi felicitated 20 persons, who had more than four children at the ‘Virat Hindu Sammelan’ organised by VHP here yesterday. Those “honoured” included Dwarika Singh, who have 11 children, Rampal Singh and Surnam Singh, who have nine children each.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Sadhvi Prachi said, “Why family planning is implemented for Hindus only.”

On “Ghar Wapasi”, she said that if 1,400 years ago everyone was Hindu, “UP Urban Development Minister Azam Khan, Jama Masjid’s Imam Bukhari, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Yusuf Raza Gilani should also do ghar wapasi”, a term used for reconverting into Hinduism.

Prachi said that she was not against love but against “Love Jihad”.

“A campaign is being run to trap Hindu girls in the name of love,” she said.

The sadhvi had drawn criticism last month over her remarks that Hindu women should have four kids.

“Earlier we used to say ‘hum do hamare do’. But now we have started saying that ‘sher ka bachcha ek hi achha’ (for a lion, one offspring is enough). This is wrong,” Prachi had said at a gathering in Bhilwara.

“If there is one child, where all will you send him? To protect the border… Or make him a scientist or he will take care of business…. So, we need four children. One can go to protect the borders, one can serve the society, give one to the saints and one to VHP to serve the nation and protect the culture. This is very important,” she had said.

Demanding a law to ban forced conversions, Prachi had supported the VHP’s ‘Ghar Wapsi’ or reconversion programme.

“If a son is angry due to the some reason and leaves the house, should he not be allowed to return. Should the family not accept him?

“That’s why ‘Ghar Wapsi’ should be supported,” she said.

Earlier, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj drew criticism when he asked Hindu women to have at least four children, with the opposition accusing BJP of trying to polarise the atmosphere.

BJP on its part had distanced itself from the remarks of Maharaj, who was also served a show cause notice, and urged its workers and public representatives to refrain from making such comments.

(PTI)

The Nasheman Urdu Weekly turns 54

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Nasheman

Nasheman Weekly, the country’s largest selling Urdu weekly today completes 53 years of glorious publication, establishing a new benchmark in Urdu journalism.

Founded in 1962 by the late Usman Asad, Nasheman currently has a circulation of over 1.20 lac; a feat hardly matched by any other Urdu publication in India.

Nasheman, an Urdu word for ‘nest’, garnered a legendary status among our readers from the very onset. With popular weekly columns like ‘Thapdakhen’ (slaps or smacks), the paper depicts the prevalent social and political conditions of the times in the most starkest terms. Such is Nasheman’s popularity, that it is bought by one, sold to another for double the price, and then sold again to triple the price.

The paper is circulated not only in India but also abroad, copies of it are shipped to UAE, Saudi Arabia and many other countries.

Although, we ceased publishing for a short period, the paper was revived with renewed vigour in January 2014 by the founder’s son, Rizwan Asad.

Under his current editorship, we have remained true to our essence. We still are the staunchest critique of socio-political inequities, we still are the largest selling Urdu weekly in the country.

The year 2014, also saw Nasheman venture into the world of online journalism, with the daily online English edition, which explores news and analysis from an independent, alternative perspective. We would be also starting a print edition in English in the coming months.

On our editor’s behalf, we would like to thank all our readers, staff members and everyone of those, who have been part of this soulful journey.

In Gujarat, all schools asked to perform 'compulsory' Saraswati Puja

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Representational Image. Courtesy: TakeEarth

Representational Image. Courtesy: TakeEarth

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad School Board has whipped up a controversy with its circular asking all schools to hold ‘Saraswati Vandana’ on Vasant Panchami on Saturday, drawing accusations of promoting ruling BJP’s Hindutva agenda and warnings of legal action and protest by Congress.

“Vasant Panchami is the occasion to remember Goddess of knowledge Maa Saraswati Devi. To make students understand the importance of education, schools need to organize Saraswati Puja and make students recite prayers of Saraswati during prayer gathering. Also, make them understand how Vasant Panchami is celebrated in other states,” reads the January 19 circular issued by the board.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) School Board runs around 450 primary schools in the city, including 64 Urdu medium schools, mostly in Muslim dominated areas attended by around 16,000 students from the minority community.

The circular has raised the hackles of opposition Congress, which has dubbed the move as an attack on the fundamental rights of Muslims. All forms of idolatry is prohibited in Islam.

Congress councillor from Sarkhej ward Haji Mirza Baig called it an attempt to promote the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.

“In a democracy, everyone has the right to follow their religion and related rituals. This circular is an attack on the freedom of not only Muslims, but also of other religions. Why (do) they want Muslim students to perform puja? It should not be made compulsory in Urdu schools,” said Baig.

“Congress councillors will stage protest against such dictatorial approach of AMC. Urdu schools, where majority students are Muslims, must be kept away from this order. Otherwise, we will take legal action and knock the doors of the court,” he warned.

Amid the mounting outcry over its circular, the board attempted a damage control with its chairman claiming it was not intended to hurt anybody’s religious sentiments.

“Our sole aim is to promote the quest for knowledge among children and not to hurt the followers of any religion,” Jagdish Bhavsar, chairman of the board, said.

“Everybody prays and worships in his own way. If they are not comfortable with offering prayers to Saraswati, they can do ‘Ibadat’ (worship) in their own way. The only aim of this circular is to make children aware of the importance of education,” he said.

AMC School Board’s administrator L D Desai appeared to defend the move, saying, “Saraswati is the goddess of education and schools are temples of education for students of all religions. Thus, we just want students to understand the importance of education by remembering the goddess through prayer on that day.”

Describing it as an “educational and not religious” programme, Desai said,”There is absolutely no controversy. None of the Urdu medium schools have approached us against this programme.

(PTI)

Hindu widow saved 10 Muslims in Bihar riots

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Four people were killed in the riots that broke out in Bihar's Muzaffarpur.

Four people were killed in the riots that broke out in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

Azizpur: A Hindu woman who saved lives of 10 Muslims in this village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district during the recent clashes in which five people died is being hailed as a hero, officials said.

Shail Devi, a frail widow in her early 50s, risking her own life, gave shelter to her Muslim neighbours when a mob of more than 5,000 people attacked Azizpur Bahilwara village after a 20-year-old Hindu boy’s body was found Sunday.

He was allegedly abducted and killed over his love affair with a Muslim girl.

“I provided shelter to my Muslim neighbours to save their lives because the mob could have killed them,” Shail said Wednesday morning.

Shail, a poor woman fighting for her survival like many others in this village, told IANS that she along with her two daughters stood guard outside her house when a mob was targeting Muslims in the village. She told them that it was a house of a ‘Mallah’ (fisherman).

“I lied to rioters that I had not given shelter to Muslims in my house. Though some people tried to enter my house but I stopped them and they returned,” she said.

Shail, widow of late Jaglal Sahni, has become a household name in the village and neighbouring villages for her rare example of communal harmony.

“She has proved again that humanity is still alive, we are proud of her,” Arvind Kumar, a villager, said.

Ash Mohammad, a man in his 60s, who was one of the ten Muslims whose lives were saved by Shail, told IANS that she is like ‘farishta’ (angel) to them.

“Shail was like god-sent angel to us…,” Mohammad said.

Mohammad admitted that all of them could have been killed if Shail had not given shelter to them.

A day after she saved lives of her Muslim neighbours, some Hindu villagers warned her that she may be targeted by some people of the mob for doing it, Shail said.

“I was so frightened that I along with my two daughters and a son Monday took shelter in Mohammad’s house but after district administration persuaded, I returned to my home,” she said.

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who visited the village Wednesday, met Shail. He lauded her role and compared her with legendary Rani Lakshmibai.

Manjhi also announced a cash reward of Rs.51,000 for her.

“She is an example of communal harmony. People should take lesson from her and she would inspire others to follow her,” Manjhi praised her.

Manjhi also announced assistance of Rs.20,000 each to her two unmarried daughters under a welfare scheme.

Earlier, Bihar Information Technology Minister Shahid Ali Khan also praised Shail for saving the lives of her Muslim neighbours.

“I promised her help by the state government, and a reward for her soon,” said Khan, who visited the village Tuesday.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered Monday against 2,000 unidentified people and 12 named accused who were part of the mob that attacked the villagers from a particular community, the official added.

Police have already arrested 14 people in this connection.

Additional Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey submitted an inquiry report on the incident Tuesday to the state government.

Soon after the incident, Manjhi asked Pandey and state Home Secretary Sudhir Kumar to conduct a probe and report to him.

The BJP Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the killing of four people and arson in a village that later turned into a communal clash in Bihar.

(IANS)

Indian-American Frank Islam receives Martin Luther King Jr Award

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by Lalit K Jha

Washington: An eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist has been presented with the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award in recognition of his contribution to the legacy of the civil rights pioneer through his efforts in international service and civil engagement.

Azamgarh-born Frank Islam was given the annual award yesterday by the president of the Memorial Foundation, Harry Johnson, for working to keep the “dream alive.”

Islam said he was proud and humbled to have received the award. He noted there is an “indelible connection” between Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

“King visited India in 1954, studied the non-violent movement and patterned the protests he led after those of Gandhi. As an Indian-American, I am proud and humbled to receive this award which honours the memory of one great man directly and another indirectly,” he said.

“King and Gandhi have been beacons to me in my personal life and charitable and philanthropic involvement. I have given to numerous causes to support humanitarian efforts and to advance the interests of the under-served in the world,” Islam said during his speech.

King Peggy (Peggieliene Bartel) was honoured with Dorothy I Height Leadership Award.

The annual awards ceremony was started in 1991 to honour the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr and the legendary Dorothy I Height and their impacts both at home and abroad.

Born to a peasant father, Islam moved to US when he was 15 years old, with less than USD 500 in his pocket, to become an entrepreneur. He bought a struggling IT company in Maryland in 1993 with USD 50,000 raised by mortgaging his house.

Islam sold of his IT company in 2007 to spend the rest of his life in philanthropy, both in India and the US, and lends his palatial house for fund raising activities — for both political and charitable events.

He is a board member of several think-tanks, academic and cultural organisations including Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts, the Brookings Institute and US Institute of Peace.

(PTI)

3 burned to death in Hindu-Muslim clash in Muzaffarpur, Bihar

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Representational image: Photo: Rahi Gaikwad, The Hindu

Representational image: Photo: Rahi Gaikwad, The Hindu

Patna: At least three Muslim villagers were burned to death Sunday when their thatched huts were set on fire during a clash between Hindu and Muslim groups in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, a government official said.

Atul Prasad, a Bihar state administrator, said the violence erupted after the body of a young Hindu boy was found in Sarayian village more than a week after he went missing.

Prasad said Hindu fishermen blamed Muslims for killing the boy who was friendly with a Muslim girl from the village, 105 kilometers (65 miles) north of Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

The charred bodies of three Muslims were found in the burned huts in the poor community, he said.

Police arrested eight Hindu men, and Prasad said the situation remains tense but under control in the village.

As many as 400 policemen, including 40 police officers, were camping in the village to monitor the law and order situation which was tense, but under control, the SSP said. Kumar had gone missing from the village on January 9.

(With inputs from AP)

Muslims deserve reservations, Owaisi says

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Asaduddin Owaisi Bhatkal

Beed: The former Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra kept the Muslim community backward and it deserves reservations, MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said.

The Sachar committee and other similar panels had recommended reservations for the Muslim community, he pointed out.

“The Congress-NCP government kept the community backward and denied it benefit of reservations,” Owaisi alleged.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief was addressing an election rally here on Tuesday.

As per the Articles 15 and 16 of Indian Constitution, a community which has remained backward should be given reservations, he said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad clarified that his party is not against the reservation to the Marathas, but Muslims too should get their right.

After the Bombay high court stayed the Congress-NCP government’s decision to offer quotas to Marathas and Muslims last year, the new BJP-Shiv Sena government got passed a Bill in the state Assembly in December 2014 which gave reservation to Marathas in education and government jobs, but left out the Muslims.

Owaisi also said that many Muslims are languishing in prisons without trial and even charge sheets are not filed for years together in such cases.

Muslims account for only four per cent of Maharashtra police force and three to four per cent of government servants, therefore, reservation is necessary for them, he said.

Journalist-turned MIM legislator Imtiyaz Jaleel said that Muslims were more backward than Dalits and for the last 65 years, they have been treated only as vote bank.

“Now, the NCP and Congress are scared as we (MIM) have entered the fray. We will contest the municipal elections,” Jaleel said.

(PTI)

Naming of Modi’s loyalist as chief of top Urdu university angers community leaders & activists

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by Mahesh Trivedi, Khaleej Times

Ahmedabad: The appointment of a Gujarat-based businessman who is seen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face of ‘Muslim’ support as Chancellor of the prestigious Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), Hyderabad, has drawn sharp reactions from community leaders and activists.

Reacting to the announcement by the federal Ministry of Human Resource Development naming Zafar Sareshwala, CEO & MD of Parsoli Corporation Ltd. to the plum post, the Gujarat chapter of the All India Milli Council said that the decision was a mockery of the Urdu language as the new incumbent was not an Urdu scholar and had no notable educational background.

Abdul Hafiz Lakhani, council leader and editor of the first national Muslim Gujarati fortnightly, also said that the HRD ministry was out to saffronise education in the country and Sareshwala might now be used in the top minority university to achieve this goal of the Modi government.

Vadodara-based social activist J.S. Bandukwala, a retired physics professor of the famed M.S. University whose home was attacked by Hindu rioters in 2002, said that the appointment of a diploma holder in mechanical engineering to the hallowed post was made at the behest of the Modi government but the political appointee was a square peg in a round hole.

Pratik Sinha, who runs human rights organisations like the Truth of Gujarat and Jan Sangharsh Manch and has taken up the cudgels for the Muslim riot survivors, said Modi had rewarded a sycophant like Sareshwala for spreading lies in the country on his behalf during the Lok Sabha poll campaigns.

Gujarat High Court advocate Iqbal Masud Khan said he was surprised how a businessman with practically no background in education could be named the chancellor of a public-funded university.

“Such persons will not only spell the doom for the beautiful Urdu language but will also make the younger generation forget the contribution of Maulana Azad to the country’s freedom struggle and framing of a secular education policy as the federal education minister,” said Khan, who has fought the authorities to preserve heritage in the historical city of Ahmedabad.

Khan, a former newspaper journalist, also pointed out that Sareshwala was a staunch Tabligh Jamat member which, he said, had hidden sympathies with the notorious ISIS.

Shabnam Hashmi, managing trustee of the Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, described the appointment as ‘horrendous’ and said it was high time “the future generation was saved”.

Sareshwala, 51, had played a critical role in Modi’s attempt to reach out to the minorities, from organising conclaves for Muslim business leaders to facilitating kite-flying with actor Salman Khan during election campaigns.

Many say his credentials in business itself are dubious as his company Parsoli Group had faced the ire of the Securities and Exchange Board of India on several occasions.

But admits Sareshwala: “I don’t know much about MANUU. But I know that empowerment of a community is not possible without proper education.”

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